Typically, in January, readers of the Bible and wannabees make a new plan for how they will approach this effort in the new year. Hands up over here! There are no few options from which to choose.
Read through in a year
Read through in a year chronologically
Read the New Testament once, or more
Read a chapter a day
Read and study one book at a time
Read one passage from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament
Read a little OT, a little NT with a psalm and proverb for fun
Read it once a week
Read it every day
Read it first thing in the morning upon waking and the last moments of the day before sleep
Read it more than last year
Which one is for you? Pick one! God will bless each and every effort.
Are you like me and own a collection of copies of this holy book? I lost count many years ago when it became clear that my husband and I have our own library full here in our home (not to mention those in his office). His first children's bible and my first "student bible" given from our parents to us upon coming to faith in Jesus.
Then we have various translations, some written in reading plan form, others including theological commentary, those with devotional thoughts sprinkled throughout, and (my favorite) ones that leave open lines for recording my own notes.
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Honestly, we are just Bible junkies. We love a new print - all colors, shapes and sizes. Giant FAMILY BIBLE coffee table size, medium not too thick or encumbering to take to church, pocket size to keep in purse or car in case of emergency need, and tiny oh so old treasures found in used bookstores. Paperback, leatherbound and hard cover. We'll take them all!
Does this anthology make us super spiritual and more holy than those content with one or two? Absolutely not. Collecting printed pages does not make one more blessed by God. Especially if they collect dust and are never or rarely read.
Maybe you've prioritized anew scriptural consumption in 2025. Congratulations! I have too and am excited for us. No matter which "plan" or path you've chosen may I gently declare that nowhere in the pages inside is a decree that it must be read in a calendar year. Psh. Take as long as you like, just keep reading. Don't quit.
If you're new to the whole of it - this ancient miraculously preserved text - you've embarked on an adventure. Not to oversell, but this glorious opus (bestseller of all time) has it all - drama, travel, war, romance, horror, good, evil, angels, villains, instruction, warnings, promises, poetry, beauty, jokes (did you know God has a sense of humor?), invitations to redemption, love, and a Hero (the very subject of the whole) who can be found present from first page to last.
I've heard it described as a library of genres within itself. I call it the book of truth and wonder.
It's anything but boring. Or outdated. Or irrelevant to present day.
That said, the way we approach it matters.
Are we reading because as a Christ-follower we are supposed to? To gain knowledge? To add or maintain as a spiritual discipline? Are determined to prove it wrong? Or curiously prove it right?
Hopefully, it's for love in effort to discover the contents of this love letter from the Creator of the universe; a genuine desire to understand it at the heart of the matter.
I've learned from many a teacher to begin each session with prayer. Critical for optimum understanding, I also find it helps to ensure a pure motive and the most enlightening experience to boot. Influenced by many, here is a compilation of words and requests I intimately ask of the Author before I open the cover.
Teach me, train me. Discipline and disciple me. Correct where I've got it wrong. Delight me and thrill me.
Open up all my senses - eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to touch, nose to smell and mouth to taste the goodness inside.
Lead me to the treasure of Your character on each and every page and form me into the image of the Subject of this book.
Amen.
Happy adventuring, my friends.
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